Maine's governor pulled a political April Fool's joke on a newly-elected lawmaker by cancelling her swearing-in ceremony Friday — after she and her family had already driven 72 miles to the state capital.

The reason? Gov. Paul LePage was seeking payback for the Democrats rejecting his pick for the unemployment insurance commission on Thursday.

"If this is his idea of an April Fool's joke, it is not funny," Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett said in a statement.

Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for the tough-talking Republican governor, admitted her boss cancelled Susan Deschambault's ceremony because her party voted down the nomination of Steven Webster, a former cop who is a fixture on conservative talk radio in Maine. She said Webster was treated "despicably," according to NECN.